“Dear Slim, I wrote to you but you still ain’t calling….”
Eminem’s notorious song ‘Stan’, featuring Dido was released in the UK 15 years ago today on 14th December 2000.
The track is widely considered as one of his signature raps of the nineties. The track follows the fictitious character ‘Stan’ and his obsession with a cameo Slim Shady, highlighting the zealousness of extreme fans. The dark bassline matches the lyrics, which paint the story of how Stan drives himself, his girlfriend and unborn child into the sea. It is no surprise that the song received critical acclaim as well as a shroud controversy and censorship, drawing on the concepts of depression and domestic abuse.
To date, the track has sold over 750,000 copies in the UK where it featured as a number one hit, and appears on Rolling Stone’s prestigious ‘500 Greatest Songs of All Time’ list. It also helped springboard Dido’s career, sampling her song ‘Thank You’ which was released in the same year.
At the 2001 Grammy Awards Ceremony, Eminem collaborated with Elton John in a live piano version of the song.
Watch the full-length video for ‘Stan’ below.
